CAF President Ahmad Ahmad who was in Ethiopia on an official one-day visit in the horn of Africa, was impressed by the infrastructure which he described as ‘for the future’ after touring the Addis Ababa National Stadium which is currently under construction. 

The 60,000-capacity stadium, built strictly to FIFA and CAF standards is 77 per cent complete, and should be ready to host games by June 2018 according to the Project Manager.

The football mad horn of African nation has been on infrastructural overdrive – laying a formidable foundation for their quest to host the Africa Cup of Nations Finals for the second time and Cameroon’s preparedness for the staging of the 2019 AFCON doubtful, Ethiopia has become one of the hot favorites to step in as a fall back option as Ahmad appeared to give them a glimmer of hope after praising their facilities.

“We have seen the Addis Ababa National Stadium, which is of an international level. This is a great nation and what we see nowadays indicates that Ethiopia is ready for the future.

“I am happy to be here. We need more and more of such facilities. CAF is willing to support football development not only financially but technically too. Our main target is to develop African football”, said Ahmad after a tour of the facilities. 

Over five state of the art stadiums have already been built in the country of over 100 million people. 

Ethiopia could also land the hosting of the highly doubtful Guinea 2023 showpiece.

The recent expansion of the AFCON from 16 to 24, which Cameroon has since challenged at FIFA, means only a few countries with the required infrastructure or extra resources to invest can host the Africa’s prime tournament.

The CAF President also revealed that he will propose to the Executive Committee to consider naming the CAF Centre of Excellence in Ethiopia after former CAF President, Ydnekatchew Tessema.

The Ethiopian headed the continent’s football governing body between 1972 and 1987.